New largest residential solar-electric project features SolarWorld turn-key Sunkits® system

HILLSBORO, Ore., July 29, 2011 – A 150-kilowatt system featuring high-performance solar panels SolarWorld, the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar panels for more than 35 years, has set a new high-water mark for system size among residential solar power installations in the Americas.

The owners of the new residential solar milestone system, who have requested anonymity, placed their installation on a craggy slope along their hilltop estate in Southern California, playfully omitting a block of six solar panels to accommodate a protruding boulder.

The system also sets a new size record for SolarWorld’s increasingly popular Sunkits® solar systems. The turn-key system program enables electrical contractors who wish to undertake solar installation to do so while continuing to specialize in their strong suits: gathering site-specific details from their customers and completing electrical-installation work on-site. They rely on SolarWorld to tailor-design each system and on SolarWorld’s distribution partners to coordinate ordering of system components and shipping to customer properties. The approach lets all three business partners maximize efficiencies and grow their solar businesses.

The new record-breaking system in Southern California – installed by SRC Inc., an electrical contractor based in Vista, Calif. – came from the Ramona, Calif., branch of Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc., a wholesale electrical distribution company based in Irving, Texas.

Eddie Freeman, manager of the CED-Ramona office, expects Sunkits sales to grow about 50 percent to end 2011 at about $1.5 million. While the 150-kilowatt system is far bigger than CED-Ramona’s average 5-kilowatt Sunkits® system, Freeman forecasts that unit sales will approach 100 this year. The solar sales – virtually all Sunkits® – come amid a prolonged nationwide slump in the office’s key industry, residential construction. “With Sunkits, I have been able to show growth through this slow time,” Freeman said.

Many electrical installers, Freeman said, find that Sunkits systems spare them from needing to research and master the design intricacies of optimizing solar system performance and calculating and gathering the correct type and number of system components for each project. “SolarWorld and Sunkits® work for them,” Freeman said. “My electrical contractors would rather spend their time on the installation than the design. Plus, they get peace of mind from knowing the system has been designed in a way that assures nothing has been overlooked.”

Aside from 600 250-watt mono-crystalline SolarWorld Sunmodules™, the system comprises 15 inverters from SMA America, racking from Prosolar Professional Solar Inc. as well as hundreds of units of general electrical and hardware supplies.

SolarWorld Real Value

SolarWorld manufactures and sells solar power solutions and in doing so contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. As the largest solar producer in the United States and Europe, SolarWorld employs about 3,200 people and carries out production in Hillsboro, Ore., and Freiberg and Arnstadt, Germany. From the raw material silicon to solar wafers, cells and panels, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ‒ including its own research and development. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe and is committed to resource- and energy-efficient production. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SolarWorld was founded in 1998 and has been publicly traded on the stock market since 1999. For more information, visit www.solarworld-usa.com.